


Accidents Happen

by Randomtrashgirl



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Slice of Life, wrote this on my phone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 05:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5993620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randomtrashgirl/pseuds/Randomtrashgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iruka sometimes questions his decision to become a teacher. </p>
<p>A random Drabble in which Iruka comforts Naruto after an accident in class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Accidents Happen

**Author's Note:**

> I quickly wrote this on my phone so please forgive any mistakes. I really just wanted to write about Iruka interacting with Naruto. This came to me randomly. Also I'm new here. Hi.

Some days Iruka questioned his decision to become an Academy teacher. His students, still so innocent to the ways of true shinobi, did not quite understand how much hard work was required. And Iruka, still so innocent to the ways of dealing with difficult children, did not understand how much patience was required. Or how many near death experiences he would face by simply giving a group of eight year olds sharp, lethal weapons. 

It was the first week of practicing with real kunai. Already he had escorted four children to the infirmary, and he was sure there would be several more before the week was out. He bit back a sigh, longing for the simple days of training with wooden kunai. 

Iruka paced through his students, judging their form and precision as they threw kunai at their targets. He made sure to keep a respectable distance from each child and target, having learned his lesson the hard way. He was still sporting a bandage on his left cheek after one student had become overly ambitious in his throwing. 

Most of his students seemed to have internalized their lessons. Their form was good and they were hitting the targets with more and more accuracy. Occasionally he would stop to fix somebody's posture, but for the most part he simply stood back and observed. He was beginning to think that he may get through the day without another infirmary visit when a shouting student dashed his hopes.

"Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei!" 

Quickly he walked to Ino, motioning for the excited girl to calm down. Beside her, Naruto was muttering darkly. Iruka distinctly overheard him telling the blonde girl to shut up but chose to ignore it in favour of looking over both students. Ino didn't appear to be hurt, but she was bouncing on her feet agitatedly. Naruto was also shifting his weight, hiding his hands behind his back and glaring at his classmate. 

"Naruto cut himself!" Ino shouted as soon as her teacher neared. A crowd had already formed around the pair, foregoing their practice for the promise of some drama. 

Ino smiled, pleased to be in the centre of attention. "Serves you right for trying to show off!" She sing-songed. Naruto' glare darkened by ten shades. 

"Ino, please don't antagonize him," Iruka sighed. 

The blonde boy hunched into himself, stepping back as Iruka got closer. 

"It's alright, Naruto, let me see," the man tried to soothe while sighing again internally. So much for no trip to the infirmary. And so much for not dealing with his most difficult student. 

Naturally, instead of complying, Naruto took another step back. The crowd behind him shifted. 

"It's nothing!" The boy shouted, refusing to look at his instructor. "Go away!"

"Show me the cut, please. I just need to see for myself if it really is nothing." Iruka insisted. 

"No!" At this, Naruto chanced a look at the instructor, and Iruka was surprised to see his blue eyes were tearful. Apparently the cut was a little more than nothing after all. 

The students crowding around also noticed their classmate's distress. "He's crying!" Somebody shouted gleefully. 

"Dumb Naruto's going to have to use practice kunai again!" Another boy snickered. 

Hearing this, Naruto's posture grew more defensive. He quickly shot his glare down to his feet. 

"Everybody, ten laps around the academy. Drop your kunai in the bins. Now. " Iruka snapped. The children all groaned in unison. 

"Thanks a lot, Naruto!" A few students mumbled. 

"Dumby!" Ino scolded, jogging to catch up to Sakura. 

"Now," Iruka tried again, using his calm and soothing teachers' voice. "Let me see." He was almost surprised when Naruto hesitantly held his hand out for inspection. 

He was definitely surprised by how much blood was pooling in the small palm and running down Naruto's thin wrist. 

"Naruto!" Iruka gasped. Quickly the blonde boy hid his hand behind his back again.

"It doesn't hurt!" He sniffled. 

Iruka reached out, gently guiding Naruto's arm from hiding. He tried to assess the wound but was quickly dissuaded by the amount of blood. Iruka clicked his tongue. "You're going to need stitches. This isn't nothing!"

"I'm alright!" The blonde boy insisted, using his free hand to rub away the tears that had begun to fall. "It doesn't even hurt much."

Ignoring the amended statement, Iruka placed his hand on his students' shoulder and guided him towards the academy. This definitely called for a trip to the infirmary. Noticing a few of his students loitering around, he snapped at them to run another 10 laps. 

"You too, Shikamaru!"

"I'm too tired," the boy replied, laying on the grass. "Running laps is such a drag. "

"If I see any of you with kunai when I get back, you will be doing a lot more than running laps!" Iruka promised darkly. 

\---

Iruka was becoming more and more alarmed by the amount of blood dripping from his student. They had begun to leave a trail down the hall on the way to the infirmary. Iruka instructed Naruto to keep his hand up, but still blood was running down his elbow and staining his orange jacket. 

By now Naruto has abandoned all semblance of aloofness and was sniffling and hiccuping to himself. As they approached the nurses' office his whimpering grew louder. 

Iruka knocked lightly on the door before swinging it open. The nurse, a pretty young instructor with neat red hair, was seated at her desk. She smiled at Iruka as he entered. "Another one, hey, sensei?" 

Then her eyes landed on exactly which student Iruka was escorting this time and her expression grew cold. Naruto stepped behind Iruka, sniffling wetly. 

Iruka also noticed the shifting emotions on the normally kind nurses' face. Again, he sighed to himself. He wouldn't be able to leave Naruto alone with her and go back to attending his class. 

"I'm actually on break right now, so..." The nurse mumbled, not meeting her colleagues reproachful eyes. 

"But," Iruka began. 

"I'm fine!" Naruto shouted bravely, still hiding behind Iruka's leg. 

"If you wouldn't mind going outside to oversee my class, I'll take care of Naruto." Iruka snapped, annoyed. 

The nurse left without another excuse. 

"Come," Iruka led Naruto to the sink at the corner of the room and began to gently wash his student's hand. Naruto winced and whined but obediently let this teacher clean the wound. Once all the blood had drained down the sink, Iruka was shocked to find that the cut wasn't as bad as he first suspected. If he hadn't known better, Iruka would say that it was already healing. 

"There, it's not so bad." Iruka smiled passively at the boy. "Jump up on this bench and I'll put some bandages on it. You're not going to need stitches after all." Naruto smiled shyly, rubbing away the last of his tears with his good hand. 

Iruka found the bandage and began to wrap it around his students hand carefully. Naruto was still sniffling occasionally but he was significantly calmer in the quiet office. He watched his teachers process with interest. 

"Why isn't the nurse wrapping it?" He asked. 

Iruka winced. "She was on break..." He muttered lamely. 

Naruto shifted on the medical bench.

"I don't want to go back to practice kunai." He said suddenly and Iruka hesitated. He made every student use the wooden kunai after they had hurt themselves with the real kunai. 

"Naruto..." He started. 

"Please!" Naruto begged, beginning to pull his hand away. 

Iruka gently but firmly pulled the appendage back to him. 

"It's only fair. You know every student-"

"No! Please, sensei, I practiced so much! I didn't mean to get cut!"

"Naruto, you're going to have to use the wooden kunai until I can see that you're able to use the steel kunai safely." 

"But!" The tears had sprung back to his blue eyes. He shifted again, looking down at his lap. "everybody is going to laugh," he muttered sorrowfully. 

"Nobody is going to laugh. And even if they do, I'll remind everybody that accidents happen."

He finished wrapping Naruto's hand but didn't let go. The blonde still refused to look at his teacher. 

"And I'll make them run laps," Iruka joked. 

Naruto shrugged. 

"And I'll treat you to ramen tonight if you cheer up." 

"And to seconds?" Naruto asked finally, coerced by his favourite food. 

Iruka smiled. "Of course."

Finally Naruto looked up. His face was still red and wet but a small smile was pulling up his lips. 

"And Naruto," Iruka said meaningfully. "Accidents happen. Don't be discouraged. I can tell you've improved." The boy slid off the bench. 

"Don't be sappy!" He scolded, embarrassed but pleased by the praise. "Let's go make everybody run more laps!" 

Iruka smiled to himself as he watched his student run back to his class. Sometimes Iruka really did question his sanity when he had decided to become a teacher. But sometimes, when he got to witness first hand his students become strong and capable with his help, he was reminded that it was the small things that made all the difference.


End file.
